The present disclosure aims at providing a casing for a domestic, catering, or retail sector device, such as a refrigerating device that can be attached to and removed from said device in a simple way and with little time involved. The attachment and removal of the casing preferably is possible without tools by untrained personnel. Nevertheless, the casing should be capable of being firmly connected to the device in order to achieve a solid structure and a solid appearance. In particular, the casing should be suitable for devices in the catering sector, where changing the outer appearance of devices, for example, for the purpose of changing interior design, may be required. Therefore, it should also be possible to replace the casing several times without signs of wear and tear. Further, in the catering sector, it is desirable that the device concerned is given the most various and diverse appearances by replacing the casing, for example, including a surface relief, which should also be made possible by the present disclosure.
In at least one embodiment, a casing comprises two lateral casing elements for covering the lateral walls of the device, a top casing element for covering the top wall of the device, and a rear casing element for covering the rear wall of the device, wherein the lateral casing elements and the top casing element each have an angled front edge section for engaging around the front edge of the lateral wall and the front edge of the top wall, respectively, and the lateral casing elements each carry a retaining profile on the face opposite the angled front edge section, the rear casing element being held in said retaining profiles. Thus, the present disclosure provides a set of casing elements by way of which the visible faces of any cuboid domestic or catering sector device can be cased in a simple way. For casing the door of such devices, it is preferable that a separate casing element is provided.
In at least one embodiment, the fastening of the casing elements to the walls of the device substantially occurs only by way of positive-fit connections, namely such that the lateral casing elements and the top casing element engage around the front edges of the device with their respective edge sections, wherein the rear casing element provides for holding together the lateral elements so as to create an overall continuous structure that positively embraces the device both at the front and at the back. Thus, no additional connecting elements such as screws, rivets, nails, clamps, bolts, snap-in or click-stop elements, or the like are necessary. However, the attachment of such additional connecting elements is not excluded where this appears to be necessary for increased stability of, for example, very heavy casing elements. Further, a major advantage of the design according to the present disclosure is that the device does not need to be equipped with a frame or retaining device. Thus, the device can be readily used even without casing elements without any aesthetic disadvantage.
The retaining profiles provided according to the present disclosure do not only allow holding the rear casing element in a position assigned to the rear wall of the device, but also enable the two lateral casing elements to be fixed at a defined distance from each other.
At the same time, the retaining profiles, if appropriately designed, have the advantage that the rear casing element can be spaced apart from the rear wall of the device, if required, which is advantageous in case of refrigerating devices, for example, for facilitating air circulation, considering the heat exchanger elements usually fastened to the rear wall. The rear casing element can also be provided with venting slots.
If, as this corresponds to a preferred development, the retaining profiles each have a stop surface protruding from the plane of the lateral casing element for engaging around the rear edge of the lateral walls, the device will be positively embraced by the casing both at the front and at the back.
If, as this corresponds to a preferred embodiment, the rear casing element is secured in the retaining profiles against pulling out in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the lateral casing elements, the lateral casing elements are prevented from being moved apart in a simple way. The rear casing elements can be prevented from moving apart in a particularly simple constructional way by providing that two opposite lateral edge sections of the rear casing element can be inserted in the retaining profile in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the top casing element. The insertion can preferably be achieved by providing that the retaining profile has a receiving slot with an L-shaped cross-section for receiving an appropriately angled lateral edge section of the rear casing element.
In order to improve the fastening of the lateral and the top casing element to the front of the device, it is provided in accordance with another preferred development that the angled front edge sections of the lateral casing elements and of the top casing element each have a projecting, in particular rail-shaped, retaining element for engaging a groove, depression, or recess of the device.
Basically, the top casing element cannot easily come off the top wall of the device by itself due to gravity. However, it cannot be excluded that the top casing element may shift due to outside influences, for example, when the device is transported. An improved fastening of the top casing element and in particular the attainment of a positive fit also on the rear face of the device is achieved in accordance with another preferred embodiment if the top casing element has a rear-angled edge section for engaging around the rear edge of the top wall.
If the lateral casing elements and the top casing element meet at the edges formed between the top wall and each of the two lateral walls of the device, this may result in a disadvantageous appearance and there could even be a risk of injury, in particular in case of sharp-edged casing elements. In order to avoid the casing elements meeting exactly at the edges, a preferred further development provides that the lateral casing elements have an angled top edge section for engaging around the top edge of the lateral wall, the angled top edge section being formed with an angled end section at its end facing the angled front edge section so as to form an area engaging around a corner of the device. Thus, the lateral casing elements do not only cover the lateral walls of the device, but also a section of the top wall with their angled top edge section. Here, the top casing element can be formed somewhat narrower so that it comes to rest edge to edge with the angled top edge sections of the lateral casing elements.
Alternatively, the top casing element can be arranged to overlap the angled top edge sections of the lateral casing elements so that a gap between the casing elements because of manufacturing tolerances is avoided. Said overlapping can be arranged such that the top casing element is located in the overlapping area above the angled top edge sections of the lateral casing elements. Conversely, it is also possible that the angled top edge sections of the lateral casing elements are located in the overlapping area above the top casing element, which has the advantage that the top casing element is thus secured against removal. In case of overlapping, the embodiment is preferably further developed such that the angled front edge section of the top casing element is formed to be shorter than the extension in width of said casing element in order to avoid the angled front edge section of the top casing element overlapping the angled front edge sections of the lateral edge sections which could lead to an undesired thickening at the front of the device preventing the door of the device from forming a tight seal.
As already mentioned, the door of the device preferably has a separate front casing element. A particularly stable fastening to the door of the device is achieved advantageously by providing that the front casing element has an angled edge section at each of its edges so that all front edges of the door of the device are engaged around. A further improvement of the fastening is achieved in accordance with another preferred embodiment if at least one edge section of the front casing element has at least one resilient click-stop element engaging behind the door of the device. Alternatively, to form a resilient click-stop element, it can also be provided that at least one of the angled edge sections has apertures for receiving a pin or the like, wherein the pin is fastened in a corresponding opening of the door.
In at least one simple design variant, the casing elements can preferably be formed by a metal sheet or by a plate-shaped plastic part so as to obtain a light-weight and easy-to-handle structure. Said metal sheet or plate-shaped plastic part can either itself provide the appearance determining the desired aspect of the device, wherein, for this purpose, the metal sheet can have a suitable coating, chrome plating, painting, or the like on the outside, or serve as a basis for the attachment of other separate casing and decorative elements. In the latter case, it is preferably provided that the lateral casing elements, the top casing element and, if appropriate, the front casing element each carry a decorative cover. The decorative cover can for example be formed by a plate. In particular, wooden boards, e.g., veneered wooden boards, for achieving a wooden look, boards with a textile or leather covering, glass plates, plates with or made of a concrete layer, or a concrete-like layer are conceivable. The decorative covers can be connected to the metal sheet by any means, for example, stuck, clipped, clamped, screwed, or riveted thereon.